--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We Americans are the best informed people…" description: "\"We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are the not the best informed as the events of th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png" --- # We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to… ![“We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are the not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries.” quote by Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png) > “We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are the not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries.” [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern media offers immediate news, yet deep historical context is often ignored, limiting understanding. **In simple terms:** We know today’s news but forget long history. Key Takeaway Seek broader historical perspective. Themes information history media Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - news consumption - education curricula - public discourse Key Concepts historical analysis media literacy Questions to Reflect On - How does historical awareness affect current choices? - What sources provide deeper context? A Different Perspective Short-term focus can skew long-term decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [. . . Americans are the best entertained and quite likely the least well-informed people in the Western world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/americans-are-the-best-entertained-and-quite-likely-the-least-well/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-best-informed-man-is-not-necessarily-the-wisest-indeed-there-is-a-2/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [I think Americans are at our best when we recover from a crisis. We've suffered some blows that other countries would have never recovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-brooks/i-think-americans-are-at-our-best-when-we-recover-from-a-crisis-we-ve/) [Max Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-brooks/) > [Americans are at our best when we build bridges between us, not walls around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-swalwell/americans-are-at-our-best-when-we-build-bridges-between-us-not-walls/) [Eric Swalwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-swalwell/) > [ We know more about Tom \[Cruise\] and Katie \[Holmes\] than we do about global warming. We're the most entertained, least informed people in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-f-kennedy-jr/we-know-more-about-tom-cruise-and-katie-holmes-than-we-do-about/) [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-f-kennedy-jr/) > [You cannot have a democracy without an informed people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-thomas/you-cannot-have-a-democracy-without-an-informed-people/) [Helen Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-thomas/) > [I think that between the egos of the actors and the wrestlers in this country we are taking away from the truly dedicated and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-hickman/i-think-that-between-the-egos-of-the-actors-and-the-wrestlers-in-this/) [Dwayne Hickman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-hickman/) > [Only an educated and informed people will be a free people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/only-an-educated-and-informed-people-will-be-a-free-people/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-blades/i-think-we-risk-becoming-the-best-informed-society-that-has-ever-died/) [Ruben Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-blades/) > [“Set yourself to becoming the best-informed person in the agency on the account to which you are assigned. If, for example, it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/set-yourself-to-becoming-the-best-informed-person-in-the-agency-on/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [We, Americans, have the best country on the planet. We have schools, universities, food, water, energy, peaceful neighbors, low corruption, you name it, deepest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dimon/we-americans-have-the-best-country-on-the-planet-we-have-schools/) [Jamie Dimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dimon/) > [I love the Americans. They are my best friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idi-amin/i-love-the-americans-they-are-my-best-friends/) [Idi Amin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idi-amin/) > [Never criticize Americans. They have the best taste that money can buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-kington/never-criticize-americans-they-have-the-best-taste-that-money-can-buy/) [Miles Kington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-kington/) > [Democracy in the contemporary world demands, among other things, an educated and informed people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/democracy-in-the-contemporary-world-demands-among-other-things-an/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [I'm optimistic. I see no longer people accepting fuzzy thinking in the world. The change is not that people aren't still saying under-informed things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-m-optimistic-i-see-no-longer-people-accepting-fuzzy-thinking-in-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More by Will Durant > [I came to think of myself, not as a dance and chaos of molecules, but as a brief and minute portion of that majestic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/i-came-to-think-of-myself-not-as-a-dance-and-chaos-of-molecules-but/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“This is the tragedy of almost every civilization—that its soul is in its faith, and seldom survives philosophy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/this-is-the-tragedy-of-almost-every-civilization-that-its-soul-is-in/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/education-is-a-progressive-discovery-of-our-own-ignorance/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [In philosophy, as in politics, the longest distance between two points is a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/in-philosophy-as-in-politics-the-longest-distance-between-two-points/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [As long as there is poverty there will be gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/as-long-as-there-is-poverty-there-will-be-gods/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“Hence the uselessness of logic: no one ever convinced anybody by logic; and even logicians use logic only as a source of income. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/hence-the-uselessness-of-logic-no-one-ever-convinced-anybody-by-logic/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“It is a mistake to think that the past is dead. Nothing that has ever happened is quite without influence at this moment. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/it-is-a-mistake-to-think-that-the-past-is-dead-nothing-that-has-ever/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“There is hardly an absurdity of the past that cannot be found flourishing somewhere in the present. Underneath all civilization, ancient or modern, moved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/there-is-hardly-an-absurdity-of-the-past-that-cannot-be-found/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/the-islamic-conquest-of-india-is-probably-the-bloodiest-story-in/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“Intellectualism—the conception of man as above all a thinking animal, consciously adapting means to rationally chosen ends—fell sick with Rousseau, took to its bed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/intellectualism-the-conception-of-man-as-above-all-a-thinking-animal/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“All those fascinating varieties of terrain—mountains and valleys, fiords and straits, gulfs and streams—that make Europe a panorama of diverse delight, have broken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/all-those-fascinating-varieties-of-terrain-mountains-and-valleys/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“To be great is not to be placed above humanity, ruling others; but to stand above the partialities and futilities of uninformed desire, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/to-be-great-is-not-to-be-placed-above-humanity-ruling-others-but-to/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“privately he composed—in French—a poem expressing his pleasure at having given the French a kick in the cul, which Carlyle delicately translated as “the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/privately-he-composed-in-french-a-poem-expressing-his-pleasure-at/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [ “\[N\]o language has ever had a word for a virgin man.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/n-o-language-has-ever-had-a-word-for-a-virgin-man/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“And in the individual too, justice is effective coördination, the harmonious functioning of the elements in a man, each in its fit place and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/and-in-the-individual-too-justice-is-effective-co-rdination-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) [Explore all 320 Will Durant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) ## More Americans quotes > [“People – Americans, mostly – realise how attached they are to material comforts when they arrive in India.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-william-roberts/people-americans-mostly-realise-how-attached-they-are-to-material/) Paul William Roberts > [Music has an intrinsic value that touches Americans - they love their music, and want more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-rosen/music-has-an-intrinsic-value-that-touches-americans-they-love-their/) [Hilary Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-rosen/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [Just because the Americans are so good at rattling out accessible and cheap junk food, nobody looks twice when it comes to their food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-oliver/just-because-the-americans-are-so-good-at-rattling-out-accessible-and/) [Jamie Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-oliver/) > [My parents don't care what Americans think of us; we just care what the other Indian people in our community think of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himanshu-suri/my-parents-don-t-care-what-americans-think-of-us-we-just-care-what/) [Himanshu Suri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/himanshu-suri/) > [When Americans, who have no idea who I am, laugh at my jokes, it's exactly the same if someone loves you even if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gad-elmaleh/when-americans-who-have-no-idea-who-i-am-laugh-at-my-jokes-it-s/) [Gad Elmaleh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gad-elmaleh/) > [So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-americans-understand-the-costs-of-war-yet-as-a-country-we-will/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We Americans tend to be a prodigal lot. We are as careless with our personal resources as we are with the resources of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/we-americans-tend-to-be-a-prodigal-lot-we-are-as-careless-with-our/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) > [Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-rather/americans-will-put-up-with-anything-provided-it-doesn-t-block-traffic/) [Dan Rather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-rather/) > [Most Americans believe in fairness; we believe that people should work hard but there should be a safety net. We believe in saving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-maclean/most-americans-believe-in-fairness-we-believe-that-people-should-work/) [Nancy MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-maclean/) > [“Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations--and how to assuage them all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/using-a-wide-variety-of-media-we-could-demonstrate-for-our-fellow/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [The Americans say that we are ungrateful-but I ask them for heaven's sake, what should we be grateful to them for-for murdering our fathers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/the-americans-say-that-we-are-ungrateful-but-i-ask-them-for-heaven-s/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [So many Korean Americans like me came to this country with the hope of achieving their own American Dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-steel/so-many-korean-americans-like-me-came-to-this-country-with-the-hope/) [Michelle Steel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-steel/) > [You are Americans. You love this country. Together we are entrusted with the principles that represent mankind's greatest political and social achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tsongas/you-are-americans-you-love-this-country-together-we-are-entrusted/) [Paul Tsongas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tsongas/) [Browse all 1,536 Americans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are the not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Will Durant" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/we-americans-are-the-best-informed-people-on-earth-as-to-the-events/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Americans" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/we-americans-are-the-best-informed-people-on-earth-as-to-the-events/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45b/will-durant-948_americans_we-americans-are-the-best-informed-peopl_2638591.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are…” — Will Durant", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Will Durant", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We Americans are the best informed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/we-americans-are-the-best-informed-people-on-earth-as-to-the-events/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/we-americans-are-the-best-informed-people-on-earth-as-to-the-events/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```